RSS Pad - Really Simple Syndication ... Really!

SyncateConference Rocks!

Yesterday's SyndicateConference showed right away that the conference has improved.  There were many return participants from the first one that was held during May of this year in New York.  This conference showed an interesting mix of folks who possessed expert, intermediate and novice levels of understanding as to what Really Simple Syndication (RSS)) is and does. 

It is really cool to find people who say something to the affect of "I don't know what this is, but I want to learn how to use it."  This attitude shows we are one more step closer to the universal acceptance of RSS and all it does to enrich our lives online.

If you thought about utilizing RSS in any form be sure to attend the SyndicateConference that will be hosted in the New York area again May 16-17, 2006.  I will be there to learn and share the wonderful world of RSS.

Academics for the RSS Industry

Northwestern University's Rich Gordon of the Medill School of Journalism gave a great overview of how RSS is changing mainstream media.  During the SyndicateConference he cited that many traditional media companies are concerned that if they should place their content into RSS/News Feeds that the value of their content would be valued less.  What they are missing he said was that their is a need for high quality content on the web.

One of the things that he pointed out is that their is a lot content on the web that may have no value to anyone other than the author and a few friends and family.  He further shared that there is a lot of very good high quality content on the web that would not have ever been published in the mainstream media and now is only available because of RSS and blogging.

Regarding the concerns of copyright issues on the web he suggested that publishers consider making their content available when it is able to generate more traffic to the website.  He further stated that when content is being used inappropriately that you should defend it vigorously.  Gordon said that copyright laws apply both on and off the web.

According to Gordon the use of a headline and linking back to the website it came from would be acceptable.  What is unknown is if when you add the edit summary, or the first paragraph if that is acceptable or not.  Gordon followed up with that by saying he was unaware of a case that had made it all the way through the courts that addressed this to provide a bright line of what is acceptable.

Gordon recommended that you place the terms and conditions of use of all of your RSS/News Feeds on you website so that you can clearly direct parties as to what you deem as acceptable. 

The other item that Gordon urged is that whenever you do use content from an RSS/News Feed is that you give it proper credit and provide a link back to it.  By doing this it will be good for the industry as a whole.

Google Speaks at SyndicateConference

Google's Business Product Manager Shuman Ghosemajumder spoke during the SyndicateConference Feeds allow for greater fluidity of content than ever before."  He reviewed how the thought was that at one time all traditional magazines would go to the web and how today we see that there are more print magazines in existence today because of the proliferation of the web because it allows them to "cast their net out further."

He further reviewed Google's AdSense for feeds program that would allow for more content to be monetized.  He expressed that Google is not seeking an immediate revenue opportunity as much as that by creating a monetary benefit it will help the syndication of content to grow.

He further urged the need to preserve what is good in the RSS/feed arena now and to not do anything that would short circuit those things that are good.  He stated that he believes that any advertisements that are in the feeds need to be very small and be made up of dynamic and highly relevant links in those ads as well as being "targeted" to the most relevant audience.

Shuman also spoke to the great benefits of tracking your feeds so you understand the true value of your content and thus your advertising.  He expressed that it is difficult to get a lot of demographic information and that you should consider using a third party to accomplish this task and of course indicated that Google's AdSense could be the solution.

He further stated that the only way to attract mainstream audiences is to supply a lot of high quality of content and that mainstream media needs to be willing to take the leap of faith to make their content available and we need to provide the technology to facilitate it.

Some quick tips from Shuman:

• Syndicate the full text of your articles
• Don't include more than one ad unit per article
• Place the ad unit at the end of the articles
• Include terms and conditions on the use of your feeds

Shuman says that right now it is easy to create a site that has high quality graphics, content and can provide feed content from professional news sources.  He further indicated that there are some challenges when amateurs participate in the process, but that that a lot of high quality content could be had as well.

Yahoo!s Voice is Heard at SyndicateConference

Yahoo!'s Cody Simms of the Yahoo! Publisher Network advised those that were listening at the SyndicateConference that you need to be blogging and adopting RSS.  Even if it is just a new trend he expressed that it is important to be a part of it as it where news information is being found.  Many of the topics covered may be good topics even though it may not fit with in the editorial restraints of mainstream media.

One of the best benefits that Simms outlined is the ability to get consumer interaction on your site.  Also the users of your site can help you to tag information and create more relevant activity for your site.  One example is that of Netflix where you can rate a film then they show you additional titles that may be of interest based on the interest you had with the one film.  They will then fulfill your interest by sending you the movie that you find of interest.

Regarding photos being tagged it creates more personal relevance and helps users find more content that is relevant to them.  On dating sites people are tagging themselves.  Audio/Podcasts are being tagged.  All of this community effort helps to mitigate against poor quality.  Thus overall the quality of the content is increased.

Simms said of course all of this has to do with getting content to people how they want it and when they want it.  He further stated that about 27% of Internet users are receiving content via RSS and don't even know it.  Blogging is not the only thing that is available on the web, but lots of mainstream media.

CNNMoney was built with the assistance of tagging and RSS.  Because they made their content more available via RSS blogs that pick it up such as news.small business.com are using headlines from CNN to add content to their site, but in the process drive traffic right back to CNNMoney.

Yahoo! is committed to FUSE which is enable people to Find, Use, Share and Expand content.  They are doing this with greater personalization. 

Syndicate Round Two in San Francisco

SyndicateConference is poised for another high level conference event.  This time the venue is moved from the Time Square area in New York City to the West Coast beauty of San Francisco.

The event which is taking place in the San Francisco Hilton conference center will enjoy many high level companies leading the RSS revolution.  Of course I will be there together with PRWeb Founder David McInnis talking about the power of  RSS in  Public Relations, Marketing and almost anything else you want to proliferate on the Web.

A lot has happened in this area of technology since the first conference.  No doubt there will be some hints as to the future of RSS shared in San Francisco over the next three days.  Let me know if you hear something that you feel will be revolutionary.

Video Podcasts Anyone?

Video Podcasting is coming into it's time.  At least it is the time to get on board while the opportunity is still so young.  The subject was a hot topic during the opening day of SES Chicago.  In true Search Engine Strategies style Danny Sullivan included new topic that the die hard early adopters want to see become the norm.  There were approximately 44 attendees in the session dedicated to video podcasts and a great lineup of Speakers that included Karen Howe of AOL's hot property Singing Fish which is dedicated to audio and video search, Suranga Chandratillake of blinkx and of course Yahoo! and Google have there interest as the usual suspects with their big pushes to index video content online.

While it may not be prime time media is a place where a lot of amateurs are cutting there teeth on for writing producing and distributing there own content.  As Amanda Watlington of Searching for Profit said in a later session "it is the farm club for mainstream media."

Of course the usual questions arise such as how do you monetize this  effort.  Well does it matter.  When you consider the cost of bandwidth it does.  However, companies like blinkx will take care of the cost of the band with for you through their service if you will allow them to advertise around it.  Otherwise you can still take advantage of their services, but at a reasonable cost.

The thing that is so interesting is this is another step toward making the viewing of content available to the users how they want and when they want.  With devices like the video iPod coming out it is a step closer to the mainstream.  While the majority of viewers of online content may still watch it from their PC as opposed to syncing their iPod the point is that they are searching for video content and they want to find relevant content quickly and easily.

Of course the road to making it universal is not easy.  As the session revealed there exist many challenges when it comes to copyrights.  Much of that can be addressed by properly tagging the content with the following:

• Title
• Author
• Performer
• Artist or Athlete and Team Name
• Description
• Copyright Info
• Dates
• Publisher

Of course the above suggested list is not exhaustive, but the easier you make it for the search engines that are indexing video the more quickly they can make it "findable."  Don't hesitate to apply your normal SEO techniques to tagging video content.

The trend seams to be that television and the Internet are becoming more intertwined as we go on.  Who knows where the big stars of the future or media successes will come from.  One thing is certain they will be found on the web.